VCs of the First World War: Cambrai 1917

Auteur

Gerald Gliddon is a historian and the founder of the VCs of the First World War series. He has written widely on World War I, including Somme 1916: A Battlefield Companion.

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The only series that offers full biographies of all the VC winners of the First World War--a must-have for any military historian or genealogist

Cambrai is the battle famous as the birth of tank warfare and is commemorated annually on Cambrai Day by the Royal Tank Regiment. Featuring the careers of 43 men, this volume tells the story of the Battle of Cambrai, famous for being the first occasion when tanks were used en masse in battle. Its first day was so successful that church bells in Britain were rung in anticipation of a great victory. Biographies here include a broad cross-section of men from Britain and the Dominions, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and even the Ukraine. They include a sapper, a former miner, who chose to stay with his seriously wounded colleague underground and die with him, rather than obey an order to leave him and save his own life; a maverick lieutenant-colonel who was relieved of his command; and a padre who worked tirelessly over a period of three nights bringing at least 25 men to safety from No Man's Land, who otherwise would have been left to die.

Résumé
Featuring the careers of forty-three men, this volume tells the story of the Battle of Cambrai, famous for being the first occasion when tanks were used en masse in battle.